Andy Serkis reveals what it's like to shoot The Hobbit at 48 frames per second. Aaron Eckhart's I, Frankenstein casts an awesomely demonic villain. The director of The Host is making a post-apocalyptic train movie.

Advertisement

All that plus Tim Burton is headed to a most peculiar orphanage, tons of Game of Thrones cast interviews, Robert Kirkman teases The Walking Dead's midseason finale, True Blood casts it big new villainous vampire, and director Bill Condon promises lots more vampire sex in Breaking Dawn: Part Two.

Spoilers from here on out!

Advertisement

Top image from Man of Steel.

Man of Steel 2

This is coming from a supposed inside source, so take this all with a grain of salt — but Warner Bros. is reportedly happy with what they've seen so far of Man of Steel (of course, I'm pretty sure the same was said about Green Lantern), and the studio is now reportedly looking for someone to write the sequel. The main contenders are supposedly longtime Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves, Clash of the Titans and Pacific Rim writer Travis Beacham, and, somewhat unexpectedly, writer-director Lawrence Kasdan, who hasn't written anything since that gleefully psychotic adaptation he did of Steven King's Dreamcatcher back in 2003, though he is one of the writers on Alex Proyas's upcoming Paradise Lost. Of course, the last time Kasdan took over writing duties for the sequel to a big science fantasy epic, it turned out OK. Anyway, none of this should be considered even close to legitimate until we hear more. [Think McFly Think]

The Hobbit

Gollum actor Andy Serkis described the experience of shooting the movies at 48 frames per second, as opposed to the traditional 24 frames per second:

Sponsored

"It's unlike anything I have ever seen before. The brain has become so attuned to watching films at 24 frames a second. This is something completely different. It's incredible. You feel inside it and surrounded by it. It's really great. People will not be disappointed."

Serkis also said the first trailer for the movie should be out around Christmastime this year. [IGN]

I, Frankenstein

Aaron Eckhart's post-apocalytic vigilante Frankenstein movie just went from ludicrous-sounding to... well, still pretty ludicrous-sounding, but also a little exciting, with the addition of the great Bill Nighy as the main villain. Specifically, the character is some sort of demon prince, which does seem like the sort of prince Nighy would play. Australian actor Socratis Otto has also reportedly been cast as one of Nighy's demonic henchmen. [Variety]

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Tim Burton is reportedly in talks to adapt Ransom Riggs's novel, which follows a 16-year-old boy named Jacob to a mysterious island where orphans with fantastical powers once lived. Here's a full description:

Advertisement

Advertisement

It involves Jacob, a 16-year-old whose childhood was filled with stories his grandfather told him about an orphanage for unusual children. Among the residents: a girl who could hold fire in her hands, another whose feet never touched the ground, and twins who communicated without speaking. When his beloved grandfather dies unexpectedly but leaves a message behind for his grandson, the teen heads off to his grandfather's home on an isolated island off Wales. There he discovers the abandoned remains of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. It is in great disrepair and as Jacob explores its bedrooms and hallways, he can see the children were more than peculiar, they might have been there because they were dangerous. And he can't shake the feeling they are still lurking around.

Snowpiercer

The Host director Bong Jooh-ho is working on an adaptation of the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, or Snowpiercer as it's known in English — as we reported back in 2009. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic tundra, where the survivors of devastating climate change and world wars are on a long train journey through the wilderness, and the passengers quickly start to turn on each other. Oldboy director Park Chan-wook is producing. Bong Jooh-ho has already cast his The Host star Song Kang-ho as one of the characters, revealing "He isn't one of the lead actors, but he'll play a very attractive character like Han Solo in Star Wars." The movie is set to start filming in March 2012 in the Czech Republic. [Fangoria]

The last survivors of humanity shelter on a train going in circles through an icy landscape, in…
Read more Read more

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Director Guy Ritchie says the sequel will be "bigger and better" than the first film:

Advertisement

"I supposed I stuck my toe in the water creatively on the last one. I'm probably a little bit more confident about who these guys are. I'm not saying this because it's what directors are supposed to say, but I do believe Jared [Harris] is a fantastic Moriarty, and you are dealing with arguably the most infamous villain in the history of literature, so it's no mean feat."

Brave

Here's another promo image from Pixar's next film, specifically of the protagonist Princess Merida. Here's co-director Mark Andrews's take on the character:

Advertisement

Advertisement

"She's your anti-princess. She isn't your typical princess. She doesn't wear nice clothes except in a couple of scenes when her strict mom, Queen Elinor, makes her do it for special functions. She's an active and action-oriented person. She wants to get out in the outdoors of the Highlands, escaping from castle life and exploring the woods."

Breaking Dawn

Director Bill Condon confirms the first movie ends with Bella as a vampire, and he teases a post-credits sequence featuring the Volturi. He also offers this tease for the second movie:

Advertisement

"The thing about 'Part 2' - it's different. It's like an epic movie. This is vampires from around the world, it's global. You've been watching vampires for four movies now. Now, Bella's a vampire and you get to experience what that's like. What it's like to hunt. What it's like never to sleep. What it's like to have vampire sex. You get that too."

Game of Thrones

Here's an interview with stars Kit Harrington and Emilia Clarke in which they discuss season two. [multipleverses.com]

Julian Glover, who for all the big movies he's appeared in will always be Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth as far as I'm concerned, discusses what's coming up this season for his character, Grand Maester Pycelle:

Advertisement

And then in the second series, um... well, I suppose I shouldn't say... He, he gets seen with a woman, you know, this old man, really good, innit? But he's discovered and he's punished for doing something wrong, and then he comes out of prison at everybody's demands.

His life is... Basically his life has been dedicated to that particular family [the Lannisters], and it has been from the very beginning, and he didn't know that, he thought he was completely and utterly loyal to Eddard Stark, at least he seemed to be, and then you discover, aah, yeah... Not quite.

The same site has an interview with Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark. She also drops a couple general hints about what's ahead for her in season two, as well as suggesting there will be some more minor deviations from the books:

I think it's gonna be very different, filming this season, because last time I was with Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa, and I was really close to her, and this season Arya's all on her own, really, so it's gonna be a lot different, but I think it's gonna be a good experience as well, because I've had that chance to be with everyone I know, and as Arya's story takes turns I think my... the filming story for me will change as well and I'm looking forward to it...

I've done a couple of scenes, and I think everyone's gonna really enjoy what happens to Arya. It's gonna be real good. It's the little things that you guys don't know about... a lot like Season 1, there's gonna be little twists. I think it's just good because you guys know the stories already and to change them up would be good. So yeah, just look out for that.

George R.R. Martin has revealed that Edward Dogliani will play "the Lord o' Bones, the wildling raider mocked as Rattleshirt." [Not a Blog]

True Blood

Italian actress Valentina Cervi, who recently appeared on the BBC miniseries Zen, has reportedly been cast as the powerful vampire Salome, who will likely be one of the main villains of the fifth season. Here's a description of her character:

Advertisement

Advertisement

An ancient vampire who is a world class seductress and fiercely intelligent. She also has quite a lot of madness in her. She is the most powerful person in every way yet capable of hiding this power when it serves her purposes.

The Walking Dead

Robert Kirkman says episode seven, which is the last episode before the season goes on break, will be a bit bigger than previous episodes and likely reveal the fate of Sophia:

"[I]t is a bigger episode and there are some loose ends tied up, but I wouldn't want to say what just yet. But I will say to keep an eye out for that episode, it's gonna be huge!"

He also revealed that a ton of new characters - possibly from the comics, possibly original - will be introduced after the hiatus, and that the very next episode will reveal how the zombies in Herschel's barn are feeding. He didn't exactly confirm that Dale and Andrea are headed for a hook-up, as happened in the comics, but he acknowledged that was a very likely possibility. Kirkman also explains why he's excited for season three, as well as when Michonne will show up:

"We're very excited for the third season because there's a lot of really cool stuff coming up in the story line that is going to be a lot of fun to adapt...She was introduced pretty early on in Vol. 4 of the comic books," says Kirkman. "Whether we'll move that up or have it happen at a later date, we haven't figured out. But I will say that she's definitely going to be in the show eventually."

Once Upon a Time

Here are some set photos featuring star Jennifer Morrison. [SpoilerTV]

Supernatural

Episode thirteen is reportedly now called "The Slice Girls", replacing its previous reported title "Knocked Up." The episode reportedly involves "a strange cult and a one night stand." [SpoilerTV]

American Horror Story

Here's a sneak peek from tonight's episode, "Open House." You can also check out another sneak peek here.

The Vampire Diaries

Robert Ri'chard has reportedly been cast as Jamie, a potentially recurring character and love interest for Bonnie. Ri'chard is probably best known for his stint as Mason on Veronica Mars, although I personally know him as Cousin Skeeter's cousin on Cousin Skeeter. (That show was about cousins, as I recall. Also puppets, for some reason.) [E! Online]

Young Justice

Here's a sneak peek at the next episode, "Secrets."

And here are some promo photos, as well as a short description: "On Halloween, Artemis and Zatanna go to Manhattan for a night on the town, only to be hunted by Harm, a psycho in training who is hiding a deadly secret..."